Led By Donkeys wins £27,000 over seized Gaza banner
The campaign group secured compensation from Veolia after the Greater London Authority handed the Parliament Square protest material to contractors for disposal.
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The campaign group Led By Donkeys has secured £27,216 in compensation following the seizure and destruction of a large protest banner in central London. The banner, which displayed the message “Yes It’s A Genocide”, was confiscated by Greater London Authority officials in Parliament Square on 4 December 2024. After a 19-month campaign to recover the item, the group received payment from the environmental services company Veolia.
Disposal and liability
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The Greater London Authority stated that the banner was damaged while in storage and was later disposed of by contractors. Veolia said it was asked by the GLA to store the banner temporarily at a local depot. A spokesperson for Veolia said the condition of the banner deteriorated after approximately 12 weeks. The company stated the item became a health and safety hazard for depot operations and was subsequently destroyed. Veolia has since reimbursed Led By Donkeys for the full cost of the equipment.
Context of protest and legal findings
The banner featured a voiceover from Professor Amos Goldberg, an Israeli historian of the Holocaust. The protest occurred as international scrutiny of the conflict in Gaza intensified. In September 2025, a UN independent international commission of inquiry concluded that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. While Israel has rejected these findings as distorted and false, the commission recently stated that Israel continues to commit genocide by targeting Palestinian children.
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Pursuing compensation was never about the money, it was about defending space to protest Israel’s war crimes.
Ben Stewart, co-founder of Led By Donkeys
The seizure of the banner follows broader trends in how Palestinian solidarity is handled in the United Kingdom. The European Legal Support Centre and Forensic Architecture reported that more than 900 instances of Palestinian solidarity being silenced or criminalised have occurred in Britain over the last six years. Ben Stewart, a co-founder of Led By Donkeys, said the group's equipment has only been destroyed when related to Palestine.
Questions this report answers
+How much compensation did Led By Donkeys receive?
Led By Donkeys received £27,216 in compensation from Veolia for the destroyed protest banner. This amount covers the full cost of the equipment after it was seized and disposed of by Greater London Authority contractors.
+Why was the Gaza banner destroyed?
Veolia stated the 40-metre banner became a health and safety hazard due to deterioration after 12 weeks in storage. The Greater London Authority confirmed the item was damaged while in storage and later disposed of by contractors.
+What was the message on the seized banner?
The banner displayed the message 'Yes It’s A Genocide' alongside a voiceover from Professor Amos Goldberg. The protest occurred as international scrutiny of the conflict in Gaza intensified.
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